Maya Angelou over the years

Maya Angelou, a modern Renaissance woman who survived the harshest of childhoods to become a force on stage, screen, the printed page and the inaugural dais, has died. She was 86.

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Maya Angelou over the years

Maya Angelou, a 6 foot multi-talented ex-Arkansan, has been hired as Hollywood's first black woman movie director, November 3, 1971. She'll write the script and music, as well as direct "Caged Bird," which is based on her best-selling 1969 autobiography. She's been a professional singer, dancer, writer, composer, poet, lecturer, editor, and San Francisco streetcar conductorette.